Planners want to hear from more agencies before commenting on proposed salon
By Bill Rea

King planners will be reporting further on a proposal to convert a King City house into a hair salon.

Alba and Marcello DeGasperis own the house on the north side of King Road, across the street from the Township offices, and they are seeking a rezoning to change the classification of the roughly 8,256 square foot property from residential to commercial to allow for the conversion, as well as accessory uses, such as pedicure and spa treatments, as well as makeup and aesthetic services. There are also plans for the establishment of a parking area with landscaping features. There will be seven spots there, including one for disabled parking. There are also plans for some renovations, as well as the addition of an accessibility ramp at the west side of the building.

Planners reported at the recent public meeting before Township council the lot is partly enclosed by a wire mesh fence on three sides, and a there is a stone wall in front, which they have determined is actually on the regional road allowance. They also reported the property to the east also wraps around the north side of the lot. The proposal is for the operators of the salon to live on that property.

Staff of the Township's operations department indicated the overall drainage plan was acceptable, but they wanted more details about the amount of run-off and soil types around a dry well on the site.

York Region staff indicated they would want a road widening, meaning the stone wall will have to be moved back accordingly. As well, they said the access to the property would have to be shared with the lot to the east.

Planners said the property is in a core area of the King City Community plan, and commercial uses like this one are permitted there. They added the community plan encourages the development of such permitted operations, provided they can be adequately serviced and sufficient parking is available. The salon is to be serviced my municipal water, and there are plans to set up a holding tank to handle sewage needs until the new sewer system is connected, likely next year.

As well, planners stated impacts on neighbouring residential properties have to be considered in cases like this, through provisions like landscaping or fencing. They were suggesting both.

Planners stated the proposed parking area has been designed to take advantage of the location of the existing driveway. As well, they stated it will allow for the retention of a number of mature trees on the site.

Addressing urban design guidelines, planners said the idea of putting the parking area in the rear conforms with them.

They also reported that similar applications have been aimed at considering a range of commercial uses, rather than limiting them.

There were some other matters they said would have to be considered in the rezoning, including the fact that the property is about nine feet narrower than the normal commercial requirement. One of the side setbacks would have to be reduced by a couple of inches to make room for the accessibility ramp. As well, they said eight parking spots would normally be required instead of the proposed seven, and the proposed spots are about 16 square feet smaller than normally required. The proposed buffer areas are to be smaller than normal too.

They concluded these variations to be minor and appropriate.

Nick DeFilippis, of DeFilippis Design and Developments, told councillors they were hoping to make this conversion as seamless as possible.

Commenting on the road widening and the moving of the wall, DeFilippis said that could be accommodated if necessary.

DeFilippis told Councillor Cleve Mortelliti most of the drainage on the property will go to the rear, where the parking is to go. He added they will be assessing how much retention is needed.

Director of Operations Jody LaPlante told Councillor Jack Rupke there's no set time line for connecting the property to the sewers, apart from predicting it will be late in 2008. The proposed holding tank, he said, will have to be in place about a year and a half.

William Street resident Paul Harding said he didn't oppose the application, but was concerned about the proposed reductions to the rear buffer areas, noting it was to be cut in half. He had problems with reduced buffers between residential and commercial properties, adding there have been troubles before along the road. "It's a danger zone," he declared.

He added the Township should look into a consistent criteria, predicting that eventually every property along the road will be commercial. In his own case, he's been bothered by traffic and late-night parties, stating the fence he has, which is just under six feet, isn't enough.

Planning Director Stephen Kitchen said they were talking about different types of businesses. "This is not a restaurant," he declared.

DeFilippis added a sixfoot privacy fence that has been proposed is standard for a property like this.

Mortelliti also wondered about the smaller parking stalls. The plan is to have them 2.75 metres wide instead of the usual three metres. Kitchen told him 2.75 has pretty well become a generally accepted standard. He added some municipalities have gone as low as 2.6 metres, but he would never recommend something like that.

Mortelliti also wondered if there could be some land swapping between the two properties to allow for more of a buffer, since they are under the same ownership.

Kitchen said it would require a severance, which would be possible, but he wasn't sure it was warranted.